Chapter 104 – Asher
A sudden thought filled me with fear. She had said numerous times he had rejected her, but the thought had never even occurred to me that she had accepted his rejection and rejected him.too… if she hadn’t, then they would still have been bonded in some way. Was that the draw he still felt towards her? Because something seemed to bring him back to her. Something made him want to continue to keep reaching out to her. Or was that purely a lust for causing her pain? “Wait, he is a former mate, isn’t he? You did accept his rejection, didn’t you?” | could not help but narrow my eyes nor hide the fear that flooded through me. I didn’t care anymore if she could read the feelings I was experiencing. She needed to know. I don’t know why, but she did.
I noticed her roll her eyes at me in that ever so sarcastic way she so often has, that initially had driven me crazy, but now I had to say I had grown to love. “Oh no, I was hopeful that he may unexpectedly fall madly in love with me Asher, as you likely saw from the snippets of the messages you saw, or here” I find her phone quickly being flung in my direction, after she messed with it, causing me to quickly react in order to catch it. “There are more for you to see just how charming he is. He is such a catch, and I think he is just playing hard to get. A man any woman would be lucky to have.”
Her words are irrelevant right now, in this moment, as my eyes fall upon message, upon message from him. These were not from the number earlier. This specifically stated Miles as the name. I moved across the room to her. I had avoided joining her
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on her bed when we first entered her room, feeling it might be a little presumptuous. A little inappropriate. But, I needed to hold her right now. Needed to be there for her. Zion too. He was rippling beneath the surface, desperate to be near her.
His behavior regarding her was becoming stranger, but I had stopped trying to analyze it. I knew she wasn’t my mate, not a second chance mate, as there were none of those signs there, but my wolf, without a doubt, felt a draw towards the girl… and in truth, I think I may too…
“Sweetheart, these are horrendous.” I whispered, sitting awkwardly alongside her on her bed.
“I don’t want your sympathy, Asher. I know what they are.” She shrugged, like it was nothing.
Zion was whimpering now, both of us unsure how to respond to this reaction from her. I could sense a confusion from my wolf. An unease. He didn’t know how to respond to this situation, and I wondered if he could feel something from her wolf that I was unable to sense. Because they were seemingly communicating. But Zion was quiet, other than the whimpering, not sharing a thing with me. Leaving me to deal with all of this, absolutely clueless.
“Why show me then?” I questioned, and her gaze darkened as she glared at me. Okay, that was the wrong thing to ask.
“I don’t know. I saved them from my last phone in case I needed them as proof. I was being sarcastic. You irritated me, asking me that. So, I guess it was to shock you.” She shrugged, but this time I noticed tears within her eyes.
I awkwardly went to put my arm around her… this felt so much
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Chapter 104 Asher
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more intimate considering I was sitting upon her bed… “Well it
| worked, if that is any help.” I muttered, without thinking, and she looked at me in shock, and I realized how s**d I was for saying that out loud.
“Sorry.” I muttered, and she chuckled.
“What for?” she shrugged. “For being you?”
I smiled. “There is a lot to be sorry for if I am apologizing for that.”
“Don’t be silly.” She softly pushed me. “And don’t worry, I have dealt with all this already, Asher. Why do you think I was so desperate to get away from my pack? Start a new life for myself?”
That did make sense, I guess, and it did explain the urgency to move here. Like she had briefly mentioned when I had pushed her for information upon her arrival. “It makes sense. But, he doesn’t want to let you go. He rejected you, to end the bond, but still sees you as his.” I explained how I was seeing the
messages.
She nodded in agreement. “Seems that way. But, like I said, I am out of there now. That was the big thing for me, getting away. I made my escape, got my fresh start. I have already dealt with it all, Asher. So, none of this needs to go any further. You asked me to trust you, so please do not give me a reason not to. I am fine. I will be fine.”
So, why did the tears she was fighting within her eyes tell me differently?
“It is tough isn’t it?” I say softly, as I pull her against me,
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surprising myself as I inhale the scent of her, Zion now purring as her increasingly familiar scent fills my senses.
Bailey leans back slightly to be able to meet my gaze, a slight confusion in the way she watches me. “I don’t think I understand.”
I smiled as I laid a tender kiss upon her head. “Being brave all the time. It gets tough, doesn’t it?”
I felt her body tense within my arms, like she had suddenly realized what I meant by my words now. I know she has to have been putting on a brave front for so long, much like me. But, I am so desperate for her to know that with me, she does not have to do that. “Sweetheart, there is no shame in admitting you struggle, you know?” I whispered, a strange irony in my words, as this was always something I struggled to admit. “You don’t have to be brave for everyone.”
“Asher, please, you don’t need to do this.” She places her hand on my chest, and I can feel my own heart thudding underneath it, so I know she too will feel how fast my heart races for her. How it reacts to her touch. And we have not done anything yet.
“Bailey, I just want you to know that you don’t have to be alone anymore.” I rested my head gently upon her own. “Not if you don’t want to be. And, if you don’t want me to say anything to Caleb, then I won’t. I would not break your trust, not when trust is precious. I know it is not something you hand out lightly. So, I most certainly would not break it, beautiful. Please know that. But, I do need you to know that I do understand your own struggles. You do not need to battle them alone now. We will find a way to fix this. I want to be here for you.”
But, as I looked down to see how she had responded to my
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words, I found Bailey was asleep contently within my arms. I smiled. Seemed about right, I made a huge declaration like that and she missed it. Though, perhaps it was too much… too soon… I don’t even know where it all has come from… so sudden… the changes within me. From pain… darkness… to laughter… and light.
I looked down again at the she-wolf within my arms and chuckled to myself, who would have known the new girl to the pack would be the one to bring about these changes? I moved slightly to lay her down on the bed, trying to adjust myself to be able to slide myself out from under her. But as I did, Bailey’s arm moved across me, and she snuggled in a little, so I was almost pinned to the bed, as I heard a deep sigh. I allowed myself to lay fully onto the bed, with Bailey snuggled within my embrace, completely unawares.
Seems I will be settled here for the night. Her embrace was comforting. Zion felt content. I am sure a little while would not hurt. If I moved I could well disturb her, and I don’t want to do that, I tell myself. I would likely wake before her anyway, to sneak back to my room before she even knew…